Sen. Toomey opts for shirt-sleeve stumping, not GOP convention glitz

Sen. Pat Toomey, right, speaks during a meeting with supporters on Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at The Orchards, Chambersburg. Sen. Toomey is campaigning for re-election.(Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)Buy Photo

“We might have the starkest contrast in any Senate campaign in the country,” Toomey said.

His seat is ranked among the most vulnerable in the nation. The left has been pouring money into the race. Only in Ohio has a senate race attracted more outside money.

Toomey leads in most recent polls, although the numbers are close. Toomey narrowly won his first term six years ago.

State Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Chambersburg, praised Toomey for visiting the local area rather than attending the convention.

Toomey is not close to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, "an unconentional candidate" who was once a Democrat and who has supported tax hikes. Toomey said that how quickly or slowly he gets around to endorsing Trump does not matter.

“I honestly think my ability to affect Donald Trump’s campaign is de minimis,” Toomey said. “People are going to vote for or against Donald Trump based on their perception of him.”

Republicans hold a 2-to-1 edge in voter registration over Democrats in Franklin County. A majority of local GOP voters went with Trump in the primary.

The gathering on Wednesday was clearly united in stopping Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

She could lock in and make permanent the devastating policies of President Obama, Toomey said.

Chambersburg Mayor Darren Brown, who introduced Toomey, said Clinton would seek to appoint a liberal, maybe even Barack Obama, to the Supreme Court.

Toomey, who endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and voted for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the Republican Presidential Primary Election, said that Donald Trump “has a lot of appeal and is certainly resonating.”

“I have had questions about his commitment to conservative principles,” Toomey said. “I have been encouraged about what I have seen recently.”

Toomey hammered the “anemic recovery” of the nation’s economy and McGinty’s endorsement of a nuclear deal with Iran.

Another campaign issue is McGinty’s trip through the revolving door from public servant to corporate director.

Toomey bristles at McGinty ‘s charge that he is a Washington and Wall Street insider.

“She used her position in government to funnel taxpayer money to preferred companies, and then she left the government and got paid by those very companies, went on the board and had seven figure income from the companies that she funneled taxpayer dollars to,” Toomey said.

Shortly after leaving her post as Department of Environmental Protection secretary in 2008, McGinty joined the boards of NRG Energy and Iberdrola, a Spanish-owned energy utility.

Senator Toomey made his millions on Wall Street and working for a Chinese billionaire. And his Presidential pick, Donald Trump, never missed an opportunity to ship jobs overseas, making his shirts in China and ties in Bangladesh. Senator Toomey’s record, like the Trump-GOP platform of today, is defined by policies that benefit the rich and well-connected at the expense of working families.

Toomey’s itinerary on Wednesday also included stops in York, Lebanon and Berks counties.

McGinty released a statement about Toomey's decision not to attend the GOP convention:

“It is a shame Senator Toomey is missing the celebration in Cleveland of all his hard work over the past two decades, because Donald Trump's Republican Party of 2016, which is completely out of touch with the American people, is in many ways the product of Pat Toomey's handiwork. Senator Toomey made his millions on Wall Street and working for a Chinese billionaire. And really, the nomination for president of a guy who has defrauded honest businesses and thrown people out of work to enrich himself is an appropriate culmination of Senator Toomey’s work, since Senator Toomey has spent decades as a Wall Street and Washington insider pushing a agenda that deprives people of a decent wage and tries to rob them of the Social Security and healthcare benefits that they've paid for and earned.

"The agenda that will be presented in Cleveland this week, which is full of privilege and prejudice, is the product of politicians like Pat Toomey and Donald Trump. It is in fact their personal story. The Trump-Toomey ticket is clear in its anti working family, anti community agenda. In undermining families, the Trump-Toomey plan makes America weaker, not stronger; vulnerable, not safe. I look forward to offering Pennsylvanians a very different vision, one that restores the promise that hard work brings opportunity and builds a stronger, better future."